


Allons-y?

by i_am_sams_lost_shoe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Allons-y, Class Assignment, Dr.Who reference, F/M, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Older character made young, Potions, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:03:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4105240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_sams_lost_shoe/pseuds/i_am_sams_lost_shoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barty Crouch Jr. isn't as  bad as Hermione thought...or maybe he's worse?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Allons-y?

**Author's Note:**

> My first go at smut guys! sorta hard (heheh) but I like it :D  
> Wiggenweld is a real potion from the Harry Potter universe but I made up Humdrum.  
> My Doctor Who fans are gonna like this - there's a reference ;)
> 
> /// - longer jump in time  
> *** - shorter jump in time.
> 
> Heads up I brought an older character into their year because I think he and Hermione are cute. Usually I think Barty would have been in Ravenclaw, but for a story's sake i changed it :)
> 
> enjoy x

As Hermione sat at the table in the near silent classroom, only disrupted by random murmurs between students and the scratching of quills, she could only wonder where on earth Harry and Ron were now. They were already 20 minutes late and had missed the start of their potions lesson, describing the details of the task for the lesson and the reveal of a new group assignment. Slughorn hadn’t given them details, saying he would properly assign it next week, but was simply preparing them. Naturally there were cries of distaste and a few students had slumped onto their desks but Hermione didn’t really mind. She just wished the professor had told them what it would be on so she could do some extra reading on the subject before next week. Hermione turned back to the cauldron in front of her and watched as it swallowed the basil leaf she fed it and turned hot pink, blowing a thick bubble that erupted and cast a smell of basil that wafted around her. As she noted down the effects of adding different herbs to her humdrum potion Hermione suddenly felt eyes studying her movements. She glanced up to the group of Slytherins at the table in front of her but neither of the three of them were watching her. Draco, his back to her, was laughing at a joke he have must have told to Blaise was guffawing at the, most probable, mockery. Barty’s mouth was twisted into a smirk but he didn’t laugh. She thought she saw him glance at her, as she was quite blatantly staring, through the corner of his eye but she couldn’t tell as Harry and Ron slumped across from her and hid the Slytherin boys from view. 

“Where, in Merlin’s beard, have you been?!” She hissed at them.  
“Well not Merlin’s beard definitely”, said Harry pulling parchment and ink from his bag, but he looked down when he noticed Hermione’s glare, “ We..uh..” he cleared his throat and Hermione could have sworn a blush hinted at passing his collar.  
“What’s that smell? Basil? Why do you smell like basil?” Said Ron, obviously trying to distract her by leaning closer and sniffing deeply.  
“Yes it’s basil,” she said impatiently, “I’m noting the effects of different herbs added to humdrum. Now tell me where you were or I won’t let you look at my notes.” As she said this Hermione covered her parchment with her arms.  
Ron shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable,” We, um, we got distracted…” He reached for her parchment but she pulled it closer and turned to Harry who buckled under her glare. “Polishing our brooms. We were gearing them up for the game and lost track of time.” Neither of the two looked at her. She stared for a moment before erupting into fits of laughter. She didn’t laugh loudly, but she wasn’t quiet either and it broke the silence easily.  
“Ah, Mr Weasley and Mr Potter,” Hermione quieted and blushed as the class turned to their corner table, “Nice of you to finally join us,” Slughorn sounded cheery and for a moment Hermione thought he would let them off but, “It would also be nice of you to join me tonight cleaning the class cauldrons. The first years are boiling frogs and you understand how difficult it is to get the layer of slime off the insides.” A snicker rippled through the class and Hermione saw pink creep up both of her friends necks.  
“Yes sir.” They both muttered and turned back to her.  
“What the hell did you have to laugh so loudly for?” Ron jabbed, grabbing at her notes. She let him.  
“Sorry guys, although you were 25 minutes late because you were polishing your broomsticks."  
They both smirked a little as they copied down her work.  
“Suppose you’re right Hermione,” said Harry, then, “Did coriander really make it start blowing red bubbles?"

///

That Sunday it started raining and didn’t stop (Hermione was unaware of it, but the sky wouldn’t stop letting loose water until Wednesday). Ron and Harry’s Quidditch match, against Ravenclaw, had ended brilliantly and the whole stand of Gryffindor had run onto the field to celebrate their winning team. The billowing icy wind and sheets of pouring rain didn’t bother them as they raced to lift their team onto their shoulders and carry them to the castle.  
Hermione practically tackled her two best friends as she ran to hug them both at the same time, practically wringing their necks in her embrace. The three of them were shouting without hearing, excited by their latest win and the prospect of the traditional Gryffindor party. Hands grabbed at Harry and Ron and Hermione watched as they were lifted onto the shoulders of her surrounding classmates. Rain was soaking her clothes and she felt her wet hair dripping down her back, not that she cared as the excited fans marched back to their common room, Hermione trailing at the end of there cluster of moving bodies. 

The Gryffindor celebrations carried on into the early morning and McGonagall had to call it all to a halt at 2 am so that they might get some sleep. Hermione, though she had been enjoying the night, was suddenly incredibly thankful as the exhaustion washed over her body. She lugged herself up to the dorms and considered for a moment changing out her damp clothes, but the sight of her bed pulled her towards it and she was asleep before her body even hit the mattress. 

***  
The loud ringing of Padma’s alarm broke Hermione from her dreams and seemed to splinter through her brain. Groans echoed through the room as the girls realised they had school and couldn’t sleep in. Hermione was still in her clothes from the day before and started regretting it as she felt her skin, overly warm and clammy, and a dull throb set into her head. Sleeping in the damp material perhaps wasn’t a great idea, she thought to herself, but nevertheless dragged herself up, showered, dressed, and went down to the Great Hall to meet up with Harry, Ron and Ginny. 

Hermione’s sore head was assaulted with the booming cheers, from the Gryffindor table that was still celebrating its Quidditch win, made louder in the echoey Great Hall. She held her head as she slipped down next to Ginny, and moaned in the back of her throat for it to be quiet.  
“You ok Hermione? You don’t look so good.” Said Ginny’s voice next to her.  
“Yeah she’s right Hermione. You look ill.” Harry was sitting across from Ginny and had a worried look.  
“I’m fine, just a little headache.” Hermione lied.  
Ron finally look up from his eggs and sausages and said, through a mouth full of food, “Geez Hermione you’re as pale as a ghost. You should go to Madam Pomfrey.”  
Hermione shook her head (which was a mistake as it seemed to stir her brain around) and just reached for a plate of eggs and toast.  
She couldn’t find her appetite and instead just flicked the eggs around her plate for a bit. As Dumbledore made his morning announcements, the hall finally going quiet, she tried to focus on him but her brain couldn’t manage the task so instead she let her eyes wander. They passed over the heads of her fellow classmates, all of them attentive to the headmaster, and landed on a pair of brown eyes that were trained on her. Barty Crouch jr was looking her way and for a moment Hermione thought he was just gazing around like she was, but after a second she realised he was definitely looking at her. She frowned and questioned him with a shake of her head (making a mental note to stop doing that) but he just raised his eyebrows and looked away. She huffed and turned back to Dumbledore. Barty pissed her off more than Draco, which Ron would definitely argue with, because even though he didn’t jab cruel jokes at people he had an air of mocking to everything he did. Like he thought he was better than everyone else. She thought about him staring at her and wondered what he found so interesting.  
A rocketing cheer interrupted her thoughts and her hands flew to her ears as the whole of Gryffindor table burst into gleeful shouts and clapping. The rest of the houses, and the teachers clapped politely and Hermione realised Dumbledore must have mentioned their Quidditch win. She sighed heavily and hoped they could just go to class soon...

///

“Hermione just go to Madam Pomfrey. You’re bloody sick!” Ron was pestering her as she tried to scribble down notes for Transfiguration.  
“I’m fine Ron!”  
“No you’re not Hermione. You’re pale, except for your nose which could earn you a new Rudolph nickname, and you keep sniffing, coughing and sneezing! You’ve got a cold.” Harry retorted on behalf of Ron. They both stared her down and she huffed as they ganged up on her. She hated missing class because of illness.  
“I’ll go later” She said to them as they began packing up to go to Potions.  
“Now!” They both said in unison.  
“Hermione,” an accented voice interrupted her before she could reply, “Go to Madam Pomfrey."  
Hermione opened her mouth to talk back but McGonagall interrupted her again, “I’ll send a message to Professor Slughorn to explain your absence, but do follow your friends advice. Your coughing was quite noticeable.” McGonagall stared, through her spectacles, at Hermione who blushed and glared at the teacher’s emerald robes.  
“Yes Professor.” 

///

“Open wide now dear,” Said Madam Pomfrey, spooning an orange liquid into her mouth,” Two spoonfuls of this and a quick nap should put you right as rain."  
Hermione downed the orange liquid, tasting orange zest and honey, soothing her scratchy throat. She would have inquired if it was similar to a muggle cough sirup until she felt its warming effect take action. The potion seemed to heat up her whole body and clear out the sickness, her head and nose became clear and the tickle in her lungs evaporated. 

“Oh. That worked rather quickly.” She said, surprised at the effectiveness of the potion.  
“Of course. A cold is nothing at all to clean up. You should have come to me as soon as you felt it come on.” Hermione blushed at the sternness in Madam Pomfrey’s words, “Nevertheless it’s gone now. However the potion does have a draining side effect and you will need to have a nap before you’re energy comes back."  
Hermione nodded and swung her legs onto the bed as she suddenly felt the exhaustion that Madam Pomfrey had only just mentioned. Her eyelids slid closed as she watched the school Healer trot off to another sick student. 

When she woke up Hermione felt refreshed and quite awake. Checking the time she saw she had a free period and thanked Madam Pomfrey before returning to the Gryffindor commons to study. Harry and Ron were sat at one of the tables in the corner, they had parchment out and books open but were instead animatedly chatting to each other. Harry spotted her and grinned up at her as she sat down next to him.  
“Feeling better?” He asked, as she took out her parchment.  
“Much.” She said to him.  
“Told you that you would.” grinned Ron.  
“Shut up Ronald,” She said but grinned back, “So did Slughorn give you our assignment? What’s it on? We can probably write it up this weekend,” As Hermione bombarded them with questions concerning their Potions assignment Harry and Ron just cast looks at each other, silent. Finally she caught on and slowly said, “What? What’s wrong with the two of you?"  
Hermione first glanced to Ron but he just looked down at his parchment, so she turned on Harry.  
“Uh, Slughorn actually made us split up into pairs,” Harry said,” And me and Ron paired up."  
“Oh,” replied Hermione, brow knitting together, “ Then who am I with? Lavender? Parvati?"  
Harry looked at Ron again but Ron remained completely interested in his book. Harry sighed and continued, “Well all of the other Gryffindor’s already had partners,” Hermione’s eyes widened. She preyed she wasn’t put with Pansy, “ And Slughorn checked to see if there were any left over students without a partner and there was only one…"  
“Well who? She can’t be that bad!” Said Hermione, impatient.  
“Actually it was um…”Harry paused.  
“That friggen friend of Malfoy’s, Barty!” Said Ron, finally contributing, and finishing Harry’s sentence.  
“What?!” She cried, burying her face in her hands. She didn’t want to be partnered with Barty, he sent shivers down her back and had long chaotic stares.  
“He can’t be that bad Hermione. At least he doesn’t bully other people like his bloody mates.” Harry attempted to comfort her. Ron began to argue but Harry gave him a look and he silenced.  
Hermione sighed, “Yeah I suppose” she muttered and looked away. This was going to be frustrating. 

///

Slughorn began the class by catching Hermione up on their instructions, “Miss Granger in your absence you’ve been partnered with Mr Crouch jr,” She glanced over at Barty but he remained staring at Slughorn, who continued, “The two of you will create the Wiggenweld Potion. Understood?"  
She nodded and the class proceeded. They didn’t study their assignment, expected to do all of it out side of class. She sighed, distracted from the lesson by the thought of having to spend time outside of class with Barty, Hermione glanced over at the boy, through the corner of her eye, who was tall and very thin. His nose protruded from his face and his straw hair flopped in front of his eyes - billowing out every so often when he blew at it. Suddenly (or rather slowly but to Hermione, who had unconsciously began staring, it seemed sudden) he turned and met her eyes. She realised she had been staring and quickly turned back to her book, though glanced back up at him through her lashes. He smirked and turned back to his own book, languidly leaning back in his stool. Her face warmed up and she silently cursed his stupid stuck up face. She hated this and couldn’t wait until the stupid assignment was over. 

Potions was the last class for the afternoon and Hermione was glad to finally be able to go back to the commons and relax a little. Not before she made a quick stop though...  
“I’ll meet you guys in the common room.” She said turning left as Harry and Ron went to keep going.  
“What, where are you going?” Ron replied, pausing.  
“Can’t a girl pee?” She said laughing.  
His ears went pink but he argued anyway, “There’s toilet’s at the common room."  
“Let the girl pee Ron,” Harry laughed, chucking an arm over his shoulder and spinning his friend back around, “I think the girls ones are closer here anyway. See you there Hermione."  
She turned and waved behind her head as she trotted off to the girls bathroom, mentally preparing for Myrtle’s moaning.

***  
Hermione emerged from the bathroom, wiping her hands on the back of her skirt and thankful to be rid of Myrtle’s hideous cries. As she walked down the corridor towards the corner that would lead to the stairs her mind started wandering again. Her and Barty were going to have to figure out a schedule, outside of class, to do their assignment. Next time she saw him she would have to ask him when he was free to work together. Hermione started wondering why he had been staring at her this morning, during breakfast. It’s not like she would have been easy to pick out among the roaring Gryffindors so he would have had to search for her. And on Friday she had felt someone staring at her then too, in Potions class. Maybe it was him. He hadn’t laughed at Draco’s joke and she thought she saw him look at her at out of the corner of his eye. But why-  
Suddenly Hermione walked straight into something solid and fell back, feeling books fall on and around her. When she opened her eyes she saw legs and realised she had walked straight into someone, daydreaming so much she hadn’t focused on where she was going.  
“Oh crap,” She exclaimed, rushing to pick up whoever it was’ books, “I’m so sorry I was totally out of it! Crap are you ok? Sorry sorry. Here-,” she held out the three books that had dropped, but her words left her as she saw who it was. She had just walked right into Barty Crouch jr. One of his eyebrows was mockingly raised, but he wasn’t smirking for once, “Uh…um. Sorry. Sorry about your books.”  
“It’s fine,” He replied, taking the books. His long fingers accidentally brushed hers but he didn’t seem to notice. Hermione went to walk away, but he stopped her, the air of mocking dropped momentarily, “Are you ok? You fell…"  
Another blushed flared about around her neck and she looked down, “Oh yeah. I’m fine. Wasn’t that bad,” He nodded and went to walk around her but then a thought jumped to Hermione’s mind, “Oh yeah, hey Barty?” He stopped when she said his name and turned his head back to her - his air of mocking back now as he looked at her. His mocking looks pissed her off and she felt her confidence come back, “When do you want to do this assignment?"  
His mouth twisted up slightly - a smirk, “What, you actually want to do that with me?"  
Not really, she thought. She nodded.  
His smile dropped as he turned to face her fully. “But you hate me.”  
His matter of fact tone shocked her and she felt the hurt in her eyes. Even though he wasn’t particularly wrong, it still bothered her that he thought that. “No I don’t,” she said squarely, then muttered, “I don’t know what would make you think that."  
He slowly walked back to her, standing closer than probably necessary, “Because when ever you look at me you’re glaring. And when I say things you role your eyes. You practically said it to my face."  
Hermione was feeling guilty now, as she realised how much of a bitch she must have seemed. “ I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-…it’s just you always seem to act like you think you’re better than everyone else. I hate that…not you.” She looked up when he sighed, his hand was on his head as studied her.  
“Fine then. Fine. We can meet up on Wednesday and Friday free periods, then we can make the potion this weekend. Suit you?” She nodded, “I’ll see you then.” he turned and walked back the way he was going.  
Hermione stared for a second then went to meet her friends. 

///

It was Wednesday free period and she was waiting for him outside the library. He was taking his sweet time though, not helping the fact that Hermione was desperately trying not to dislike him. He finally came sauntering up the corridor, hands deep in pockets, school jersey slung over his shoulderbag, and he didn’t even look a bit sorry.  
“Enjoy being every else but where you arranged to be?” She remarked as he sidled past her and into the library, she following.  
“I’m here now aren’t I?” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, the corners of his mouth curling into - you guessed it - a smirk. She glared up at him and didn’t respond.

Hermione went to sit at a table near the middle of the library, placing her things on the wood, but he kept walking instead - towards the back corner of the room. She didn’t bother arguing and trotted behind him. Barty swung his shoulder bag onto the desk, himself into a chair, and his legs on top of the table, aiming them to his left. He studied Hermione as she gently laid her bag on the table and sat in the chair opposite his. As she looked back up at him he smirked again, and she rolled her eyes - playfully. 

“So do you have the instructions for the Wiggenweld potion?” Barty asked, tapping his fingers rhythmically across his thigh.  
His hands were somewhat distracting to Hermione, long and slender, she tried not watch them as she answered, “No. And it’s not in our text book. But I think I know a book in the library that has it.” her eyes flickered down to his hands then back to his face.  
He waited for a moment then sighed, “Well?” He gestured for her to get the recipe.  
“O-oh yeah. right.” She got up and went to retrieve the book she had studied once before. Coincidentally the corner they were in was diagonally across from where she had previously found the book. As she traced her fingers across the titles of the books, sliding across their spines, she could feel his eyes watching her. She located it, Sleep: Potions, Spells, Herbs and Beasts That Cause it and How to Counteract. It was a heavy thing, leather bound but even that was falling into tatters. She dropped it between them, gently, and and sat back down. Barty swung he legs under the table and leaned in to flip through the book, tiny plumes of dust swirling as he turned the thin parchment. He stopped near the middle and they both leant in to read what was written. 

{ Wiggenweld Potion

Wiggenweld Potion is a healing potion used to awaken those cast in a magically-indueced sleep. It has been used before to awaken many young princesses, cast into sleep by jealous rivals, by their loved ones, highly recommended for it’s fast effectiveness. 

Brewing:

Add salamander blood until the potion turns red.  
Stir until the potion turns orange.  
Add more salamander blood, this time until it turns yellow.  
Stir until the potion turns green.  
Add more salamander blood, until the potion turns turquoise.  
Heat until it turns indigo.  
Add more salamander blood until the potion turns pink.  
Heat until the potion turns red.  
Add five lionfish spines.  
Heat until the potion turns yellow.  
Add five more lionfish spines.  
Add flobberworm mucus, until the potion turns purple.  
Stir until it turns red.  
Add more flobberworm mucus, this time until it turns orange.  
Stir till it turns yellow.  
Shake and add until it turns orange again.  
Add honeywater until it turns turquoise.  
Heat until it turns pink.  
Add salamander blood until it turns green. }

Hermione looked up, seeing that Barty had finished reading before her and had clearly gone back to staring at her, unashamedly. A blush crawled up her cheeks and she tried to ignore it.  
“Uhm, I guess we’re going to need a lot of salamander blood huh?”  
His mouth turned up again, “Yep.”  
“Do you, ah, have enough for this?"  
“Nope. Do you you?” She shook her head, “I suppose we can go and talk to Slughorn then."  
“Oh yeah,” she frowned slightly, bothered that he had thought of that before her, “Shall we do that now then? We still have a while before lunch."  
“Yeah. C’mon then, allons-y.” He jumped up, startling her, and swept the book into his bag.  
“Pardon?” Hermione asked, getting up herself and walking next to him. He gave her a question look, not knowing what she meant, “ What you said just now. What was that?"  
“Allons-y?” He questioned. She nodded, “It means ‘let’s go’. It’s french.”  
“Oh,” She was silent as they paced through the corridors then decided she might as well get to know her partner, “Do you know french then?”  
He chuckled and shook his head, “No."  
“Do you know any languages?"  
He cast a side glance at her then responded, “English."  
Hermione rolled her eyes, “Any other than English?"  
The corners of Barty’s mouth twitched, “No. Do you?”  
She smiled that he had responded with a question and shook her head, then went silent for another couple of minutes, then looked back up at him, “What do you want to do when you leave Hogwarts?” she asked.  
He was silent for a moment and scratched at his left wrist, like he was really thinking about the question, before shrugging his shoulders, “I think I want to be a Healer,” His answer surprised Hermione and she was silent as he continued, “I suppose you want to be an Auror with Potter and the red one huh?"  
“Huh, no? Why do you think that?” She said, surprised he jumped to that conclusion.  
“Well the saving Hogwarts and the rest of the wizarding world every year sort of hinted at it.” He joked, the smirk back.  
“Oh yeah I suppose that would, wouldn’t it. No, I want to work in the ministry."  
“What doing?” He asked.  
She paused for moment, unsure of whether to tell him or not. People usually laughed at her. But she decided she didn’t care, “I want to start a department studying house elf rights and giving them a chance to make more decisions for themselves, I’m hoping to aim for their freedom.” She waited for his eruption of laughter and winced as he responded. Although no as she had expected.  
“You plan to do what!” She looked up at him, shocked as he almost yelled at her, “Why the hell would you want to do that?!” His face was twisted in a sneer and she stopped, shocked that he would be so angry at her for it.  
“What d-do you mean?"  
“How could you want to do that to them? What sort of person wants that?!"  
Her blood began to get hot and she felt it bubble in her chest now. She was used to the laughter but not this anger. Her embarrassment and shock turned into anger and she was quick to defend herself, “What do you mean what sort of person wants that?! House elves have no rights, they’re bossed about 24/7, never receiving a break! They don’t even get to wear real clothes! They’re treated like miserable wretches, abused and maltreated! Who could happily go about their day ignoring that fact?"  
“Hermione, that’s what they want! If I went home and gave Winky a pretty pink dress she would turn into a sobbing mess! If we gave her free time she wouldn’t know what to do with her self and probably go mad!” Barty was yelling now, not screaming at the top of his lungs, but he could have been quieter.  
Tears stung at Hermione’s eyes, “How do you know that?! No one has given them a chance so whose to know how they would react?! They might embrace it and be thankful that someone took their rights into thought! Why are you even yelling at me about this anyway?! Most people just laugh at me, why didn’t you do that? I can deal with that…” Her voice trailed off into a hiccup.  
He just stared at her, tense, then sighed slumping into his hands. Hermione wiped her eyes and stared at her feet. She felt his hand touch her shoulder, fingers wrapping over the curve.  
“I-…I’m sorry Hermione,” She looked up at his stupid face, the edge of her vision blurry, “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. That wasn’t ok,” He let slip a genuine, although small, smile and nodded in the direction they had been going, “Allons-y?”  
She let out a laugh that finished as soon as it started and nodded. Barty’s hand slipped from her shoulder to the small of her back as he guided her forward, though it dropped back to his side a second later. She hated herself for practically crying in front of him but was happy they weren’t yelling anymore. Her thoughts wandered back to how he had smiled, an actual smile instead of the usual smirk, and she found herself liking it. Her chest fluttered the tiniest bit at the thought of him smiling at her like that again, and she gasped in shock at the feeling.  
“You ok?” he had heard her small gasp.  
“Uh yeah I’m fine.” they kept walking.  
Had her heart really fluttered at the thought of him? Hermione mentally shook the thought and decided to forget about it. They finally reached Professor Slughorn’s classroom, and Barty went to knock on the door, but Hermione grabbed his arm before he touched the wood.  
“What is it?” He asked.  
“I think there’s a class in there still.” She replied and they both stopped to listen. Slughorn’s voice wafted out to them as he lectured a class about the usefulness of reptilian scales. The both of them backed away and looked at each other, “What now?” said Hermione, motioning towards the closed doors.  
“We can wait until the end of the period and talk to him during lunch? There’s only five minutes left anyway.” He said and she nodded in agreement.  
Barty backed up against the wall, opposite the doors and slid down to sit on the cool rock floor. He patted the ground next to him, indicating Hermione sit there. She thought about defiantly refusing and standing outside the door but then decided it was probably childish and sat down next to him.  
She was silent for a moment then turned her head to face him, “So you want to be a Healer huh?” He nodded, “What made you want to do that?”  
Barty rubbed at his left wrist for a moment then said, without looking at her, “I think it’s half me just liking the idea and half wanting to rebel against my father. He wants me to work for the Ministry. Either as an official or one of their Auror soldiers. Never did like him so doing what he doesn’t want me to do seems pretty good.” He grinned down at her and sent another flutter through her chest. Hermione grinned back up at him.  
She turned back to pretend to study the wooden doors, but really she watched his movements out of the corner of her eye. His head was lolled against the wall and he was tapping his fingers against his thighs again. She shifted closer to him, not sure if he would notice, but as she did so he turned to look at her - obviously feeling her move. She felt a blush creep up her neck and quickly distracted from her movement, “I think you’ll be a great healer.” She smiled and he smiled back.  
Then he did something unexpected. He leant his head down to come closer to her face, his eyes dropping to look at her mouth. Hermione swallowed hard and saw him do the same. She leant her face a little closer too, close enough that his smell wafted around her. Sort of like nutmeg and cinnamon. His right hand reached up to brush her jaw, pulling her chin up a little and leant in to close the gap- 

“Alright class I want those in by Friday! Dismissed.” Slughorn’s booming voice made Hermione jump and Barty’s hand dropped from her face. He got up, quickly and went to stand by the wall next to he double doors. Hermione’s heart was thumping against her chest, she was sure it was about to crack through her ribs, and she scrambled to get up as well, though she remained on the far wall. She glanced at Barty, he was glaring at the floor - brows knit together, although his cheeks were slightly flushed. She kept expecting him to look back up at her but he continued to stare at the floor as a flood of first years crowded around them. Hermione walked froward, reaching to tug at his sleeve - a motion to indicate they should go talk to Slughorn but he quickly pulled it away from her. The movement was quick and tiny but for some reason it hurt. She sighed and continued into the room, dodging students almost as tall as herself. 

“Professor Slughorn?” Hermione said, grabbing the attention of the older man who stood behind a desk, sifting through papers. He looked up at her and Hermione couldn’t help but think how much he suited his name. He was pale and sweat gleaned on his forehead in the stuffy room. The wrinkles that lined his face were deep and seemed to emphasise his slight pudginess, creating an illusion of roles down his neck - relating him to a slug. Barty’s steps followed her in and stopped next to her, his hand brushed hers, and he slipped his pinky around hers and squeezed it - an apology for pulling back from her - before letting go and walking up closer to the professor, who hadn’t noticed the exchange.  
“What can I do for you two?” He asked, kindness lighting up his features. Despite his selfish habit of ‘collecting’ people into his Slug-Club, Hermione had always liked him. He was nice to almost anyone he talked to.  
“We were going over the ingredients and realised we don’t have everything we need to make it.” Said Barty, motioning towards Hermione when he said ‘we’.  
“Ah, and you’re wondering if you can use some of the ingredients from the Potions class?” Replied Slughorn, smiling at the two of them. They both nodded, “Well help yourselves. The pantries are full of the things you will need. I hope you don’t mind finding them yourselves, I have some papers to mark.”  
They thanked him and went to the pantry on the right side of the room. The pantry was more like a store room as it deepened into the wall. Hermione stepped in, candles lighting automatically as she stepped over the threshold - followed closely by Barty. They read over the bottles and jars and boxes of ingredients, looking for those specific to their needs.  
“I’ve got the lion fish spines and flobberworm mucus.” said Barty holding up a little wooden box and jar of sticky green mucus.  
“I’ve got the honeywater but I can’t find the blood…” Hermione slipped the vile of honeywater into her bag, reaching for the box and jar to do the same with them. Barty handed them to her, but as she went to look for the blood she saw him looking at her. His eyes were shadowed but she could see he was looking at her deeply, his teeth pulling his bottom lip in as he ran his glance over her form. He moved forward to grab her hands and she gulped as he tangled his fingers in hers, thumbs rubbing against her palms. He moved in even closer, knocking his hips against hers, so that she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. His hands slid from hers and sidled up to her waist, rubbing up and down her sides, thumbs now flicking at the hem of her shirt - not lifting it but indicating the desire. Her own hands unconsciously lifted to rest one against his chest and the other on his neck. He stooped to bring his face close to hers and she thought for a second he was going to try to kiss her lips again but instead he dipped his nose to brush it against her jaw. He bent and brushed his lips against the spot on her neck, just under her ear. She knew he felt her pulse quicken and she could feel his grin as he kissed her again, brushing his tongue against the spot, causing her to gasp at the soft feeling and she felt his grin again as he swept his tongue over the lobe of her ear, pulling at it with his lips. Hermione’s breathing hastened and she felt his teeth tugging at her now. Barty pushed closer to Hermione as he kissed his way down her neck, pressing against her chest which rolled with each breath. Barty pulled back up to her face, kissing the corner of her mouth and brush her lips with his. She was about to press in harder, end the desire that coursed through her body but was again interrupted by Slughorn’s voice - 

“Are you two finding everything alright in there?” He called to them, getting louder with each syllable. Barty practically jumped back from her and almost knocked over a jar of herbs.  
Slughorn trotted into the room, obviously not noticing the two of them blushing profusely, smiling at them.  
“Er…um, I was j-just having some trouble finding the salamander blood.” Said Hermione, staring at Slughorn's feet.  
“Oh it’s right here dear girl!” Slughorn pointed to a spot just behind her.  
She turned and he was right, there were jars of the stuff right behind her, she cast a look at Barty who probably could have seen it, but he was fiddling with a scrap of paper on the desk.  
“Thank you Professor, we’ll be out in a moment.” He just nodded and smiled before returning to whatever he was doing. Hermione grinned sneakily at Barty who returned the grin. She turned and grabbed two jars of the thin red liquid.  
They left the pantry, thanked Professor Slughorn and left the classroom. Once they reached the corridor they turned to look at each other, unsure of what would happen next.  
“I-…I guess I’ll see you at the library on friday then?” Hermione said.  
He raised an eyebrow at her, “Or in Potions tomorrow?"  
“Oh yeah. I’ll see you there too.”  
Barty brushed his thumb against her jaw, then turned and strutted towards the dungeons, calling over his shoulder, “Bye Granger."  
She grinned and went to find her friends. They were in the Great Hall finishing lunch, making her wonder why Barty hadn’t gone to have his lunch either, and she slid in next to Ginny.  
“What took you so long?” Said Ron, waving a chicken leg at her.  
Hermione let out an exasperated breath.

///

Thursday Potions class focused on why Humdrum reacted to different spices but not to insects. Hermione distractedly took notes but couldn’t focus with the boy that was sitting at the table across from hers. He wasn’t wearing his school jumper again and had rolled the white sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. His tie was slightly loose, exposing the undone top button and she knew it was to tease her. She narrowed her eyes at the button, mentally attempting to button it so she might focus on the lesson rather than the hollow of his throat. Barty glanced her way, and smirked when he saw that his plan to tempt her had worked. She narrowed her eyes further, glaring at him and he responded - by winking. It was quick as a flash and she was sure no one had noticed before he turned back towards Slughorn. Her cheeks blazed at his flirtation and she buried her face into her arms.  
“You ok?” Ron’s voiced hissed next to her ear and she just nodded, silencing him.

///

Hermione was leaning against the wall next the library waiting for Barty. He was late, but not by as long as he had been on Wednesday. A small cauldron swung from his left hand while he gave a quick wave to her in greeting.  
“Hey.” She said, smiling a little at him, she couldn’t help but wonder if he might peck her on the cheek as he came to stand before her, but he didn’t.  
“I was thinking we already have the instructions with us, and we don’t really need to study them, so we could practice making the potion instead. That way it’ll be perfect when we give him the final product."  
She nodded her agreement, “Where though?” she asked.  
“The astronomy tower?”  
She grinned at him, “Allons-y,' and he returned the grin.  
They made their way through Hogwarts to the tallest tower. It was mostly silent through the castle, students either at class, or on the lawns or at their commons. She was thankful as some of the students, that they did pass, gave them funny looks, noticing the Gryffindor and the Slytherin mendering around together. Although, she thought, I suppose if this relationship did go any further I would have to get used to it. She sighed.  
“What’s wrong?” Barty looked down at her, he had a poker face but his eyes were concerned.  
“Nothing. I’m ok.” She smiled at him and began the climb to the tower. 

***  
Hermione sat crossed legged before the cauldron, watching the potion bubble lightly, a mossy green colour. Hermione tipped more salamander blood into it and saw as it turned a turquoise colour.  
“Huh.” she muttered taking in the new colour.  
“What?” Questioned Barty, who was watching her. He was laying next her, head resting in hand, like he was posing.  
“It’s just a nice colour that’s all.” She said.  
“Yeah I suppose so. Now what are we supposed to do?"  
Hermione glanced back at the instructions, “We have to let it heat until it turns indigo,” She frowned.  
“How long is that going to take?” Barty asked, voicing her thoughts. She shrugged.  
He tugged at her arm and as she turned to him her heart skipping at the look on his face. He was grinning slyly, eyes wicked. She wasn’t really scared - more like worried about where his mind was going. Although she mulled it over quickly and decided it probably wasn’t as intense as she initially thought. He was flicking at the hem of her shirt again though. Hermione slid her her hand up to his chest, moving on to her knees so she could push him lightly on to his back, before she slid her self to sit on his lap while he lay, hand behind his head (the other still fiddling with the hem of her shirt - she could feel his fingers occasionally sweep her skin) to look at her. He was smiling at her, changed from the wicked grin a moment ago.  
“You’re pretty too ya know.” he said, quietly.  
Hermione’s cheeks flooded, “What? No-"  
“Please don’t argue with me love, it is tiresome.” Somehow he caused her cheeks to grow warmer as she caused his grin to widen.  
To avoid answering him she slid her hands, which had been firmly pressed to his stomach, up his chest to grab at his collar. She used it to pull herself down, pressing her lips to his neck. He gulped and Hermione took great pleasure in making him nervous, so she brushed her lips over the spot again, appreciating the feel of his light stubble, and down to the hollow of his throat - which he had teased her with just the day before. As she kissed the dip in his neck and ran her tongue along it’s curve she felt his chuckle under her skin.  
“Fall into my trap did you?” He said, voice husky, referring to the day before.  
“You bastard.” Hermione murmured against his skin, earning another husky chuckle.  
She brushed her lips over to his collar bone, or just above it rather, and pressed her lips to his skin. She nipped at it and kissed again - sucking at the lovebite. A strained groan slipped through his lips and he moved his hand from behind his head to her waist, slipping his hands under her shirt to rub against her skin. She could feel him harden against her thigh, but decided she wasn’t ready for that yet and slid herself up to rest on his hips, they bucked slightly, moving her into a more comfortable position for him. Her hands caressed the side of his neck and face, as she bent down and finally pushed her lips onto his. They were soft and moved to the rhythm of hers, opening slightly to dart his tongue into her mouth. His hand pressed the back of her neck, pulling her in harder then going to tangle into her curls. A whimper built in her throat and responded to his moan that escaped in-between her kisses.  
“Barty?” She murmured into his mouth.  
“Mm?” he hummed as he shifted to kiss the corner of her lips.  
“Still think I hate you?” She kissed into his grin.  
“What do you think love?” He muttered, running his tongue along her bottom lip. He shifted to brushing his lips down her throat, aiming to return the lovebite. Hermione’s eyes fluttered slightly and she noticed the cauldron, the contents a dark mulberry colour.  
“Shit."  
“Mm?” Barty was still toying at her neck.  
“The potion Barty."  
He hummed when she said his name but turned to look at the cauldron anyway, “What’s wrong with it? Is it Indigo all ready?"  
“No, it’s practically black.” She shifted off of him and went to glare at the betraying potion.  
He came and sat next to her, “Do we have to start over now?” She nodded. He sighed.

They started again, promising to keep their eyes on it to make sure they didn’t do it wrong this time. They made a couple more, near perfecting it.

“The period is almost over.” Said Barty from behind Hermione, leaning his lips into her neck as she spooned the contents of the cauldron into a mason jar. His long legs wrapped playfully around her waist and rested atop her crossed legs. He arms wrapped his arms around her shoulders and nuzzled into the spot behind her ear.  
“You’re making this awfully difficult Barty.” Hermione murmured, focusing on not letting the potion drizzle out of the jar. He chuckled wickedly into her skin. She smiled but didn’t let him see. 

As they walked to their next classes Barty turned to her, grabbing her hand, “Do you still want to meet up on the weekend and really perfect this or hand in the potion we made today?” he asked.  
“I have to write a Transfiguration essay tomorrow but we can catch up on Sunday, make a better potion than this.” she patted her bag and smiled at him.  
He grinned, “Ok we can go after breakfast,” she nodded, “See you then, love.” He let her hand fall and strode in the opposite direction to her own class. 

///

“I’m going to finish making our potion with Barty today.” Hermione said, sifting her cereal around in her bowl before spooning it into her mouth.  
Ron snorted saying, “Glad I didn’t get sick or I might have been with him.” Hermione couldn’t help thinking of Barty leaning in to kiss Ron and she bit back a laugh.  
“He’s not that bad you know,” She said, finishing her mouthful and waving her spoon at him, “I like him actually.” Ron’s eyes widened and Harry looked up from The Dailey Profit that rested in his grip, but he shrugged and went back to reading.  
“Well then why does he hang out with Malfoy?” asked Ron, an argument rising in his voice.  
Hermione shrugged and turned back to her cereal, “I suppose he likes playing pranks on people and teasing them and stuff. Not like Malfoy does but in his own way I guess."  
Ron eyed her as she stared into her bowl, “Did he play a prank on you?” Hermione looked up at him, seeing a twinkle of amusement at the prospect of a prank being played on her but also a glimmer of concern for his friends wellbeing. He was sweet when he thought no one was looking, “No. He just teased me a bit. Playful humour.” she laughed.  
Ron shrugged and turned back to his full plate, saying between shovels of egg and bacon, “I guess he’s not as bad as we thought then. Geez Hermione, quick to judge aren’t you!” She grinned at his joke and turned back to her own breakfast, looking up again through her lashes towards Barty. He was chewing on a bite of toast and smirking as Draco said something. He felt her stare, looking towards her and winking again, before turning his attention back to Draco. Hermione felt a blush creep up her neck but ignored it. 

***

Ron was almost finished his breakfast and was chatting animatedly with Harry and Ginny, (whom had joined them soon after Hermione and Ron’s ritual banter), about quidditch and when their practises would start up again. Hermione had slipped herself from the conversation, not able to contribute much anyway, and let her eyes glide around the room. She finally fell on Barty who was attempting to catch her eye, Blaise and Draco talking around him. Seeing that he had her attention he nodded towards the door, miming “allons-y” with his mouth. She nodded and collected her things. He exited the hall as she grabbed her friends attention, slipping her words in at a break in the conversation.  
“I’m going to go meet up with Barty now.” She said. They murmured their goodbyes before quickly turning back to Quidditch. 

As Hermione stepped out of the hall she turned her head left, looking for Barty, seeing that he wasn’t there she walked to her right, but failed to turn her head fast enough before she collided with someones grey-plaid chest and fell backwards, onto her rear with a soft oof.  
“We’re going to have to do something about you continuously running into me love.” Said a familiar voice. He offered her a hand and she let him pull her up towards his smirking face.  
“You did that on purpose.” She huffed.  
“Now why would I do that." her murmured as he dipped and kissed her under her jaw. She blushed and quickly glanced around the empty corridor.  
“We should, um, go back to the astronomy tower. Do you have your cauldron?” He waggled it at her in response, “Ok then. Allons-y?"

They made their way back up to the tower and sat in their spot. The first potion they made was a weird green blue colour and they had to start again. The second time it when brown (too much salamander blood), but the third time it turned into a nice lime green. Hermione began spooning it into another mason jar, Barty playfully leaning his back against hers to make things more difficult. She compared it to the batch they had made the other day and was happy to see the brighter difference.  
“I think this is pretty close to perfect,” she said, not daring to say perfectly perfect, “I wish we had a way to test it and make sure though."  
“How about I put you under a magic induced sleep and test it out?” Barty joked. She grinned and elbowed him in the back, “Hang on. I snuck a mouse out of Transfiguration we can test it on.” He reached for his bag and pulled out a box with holes poked in the top. He twisted to sit next to her and hand her the box. She didn’t take it.  
“Are you sure?” She said tentatively, “I don’t want it to get hurt.”  
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.” Barty opened the box himself and gingerly put his hand in the opening, to pull out a tiny grey mouse. It squeaked it’s distress, until Barty placed his wand behind it’s ear and murmured a spell. The tiny animal instantly become limp in his hand, and for a moment Hermione thought it was dead, until she saw it’s small abdomen rising up and down by a fraction. Barty looked down at her face and smiled, “See?” She smiled back, hesitant.  
Hermione dipped the tip of her pinky into the potion and brought it to the mouse’s mouth. She glanced up at Barty, suddenly nervous, and he nodded his encouragement. She gently rubbed the green potion onto the animals mouth, then brought her hand back and waited. Nothing happened and her pulse quickened, then suddenly the mouse let out a tiny burst of coughing and started hurriedly looking around again, it’s little limbs wriggling for freedom. Barty placed it back in the box and put that in his bag, followed by the jar of potion. 

She sighed her relief and looked back up at Barty, “Now what?” His face suddenly changed and his wicked grin was back, eyes gleaming down at hers.  
“I have an idea.” He whispered, before pushing his lips against hers, his hand slipping under her shirt to rest on her waist, leaning into her. Hermione let her right hand hold her steady while her left twisted into his hair. His left hand was on the ground next to hers and, sensing his balance, she lifted her other hand to pull lightly at the scruff at the nape of his neck. Barty slowly brought her back to the ground as he kept pressing his mouth into hers, letting his tongue sweep across her lips until she parted them and he could dart in, dancing around her mouth. He ducked down to suck at her neck and a moan escaped her throat, her back arching slightly. She felt him harden against her in response and this time wasn't so opposed to the idea. As he continued at the lovebite on her neck she slid her hands down to work at the buttons on his shirt. He let her slip the thing off of him, though refused to leave her neck. Hermione pulled his face back up to hers, feeling him lean into the kiss. His hands finally pulled at them hem of her shirt and she let him slide it up and off of her body, exposing her patterned bra. Her hands slipped down his body to tug at the zipper on his jeans, his eyes widening as he realised exactly how far she was going with this. He dipped back in to kiss her, bringing her right arm above her to twist his fingers in hers and squeeze her hand, while with her free hand she started to rub a moan out of him. He groaned into her mouth as she kept going, his hips bucking slightly to indicate his desire.

He stopped kissing her mouth for a moment to bring his next to her ear, “Are you sure?” she muttered a yes and he tugged lightly at her lobe, pulling her knickers down with his free hand.  
Barty pushed himself into her, gently and slowly, and she gasped at the sudden pressure. He paused to check her face, make sure she wasn’t in pain and continued when she pulled him back, her nails scratching lightly at his back. There was a sharp pain and Hermione gasped, but continued to pull at him when he hesitated, the ache easing with the rhythm.  
She began rocking to his beat and wrapped her legs up around his waist, a moan erupting from his throat as she did so, followed by her own pant of his name. Whimpers began to escape her throat with each of his thrusts, low and barely audible - but there. He was humming into her throat, hot breath tickling her skin. A shiver rocked her body as she climaxed, and she panted with ecstasy as he finished seconds after her. Barty rolled onto the floor next to her, panting along with her. She looked up at him as he gazed down at her and they started laughing, surprised by their own daring romance.  
“Didn’t know you were such a deviant, Granger.” He laughed.  
She grinned and rolled to put her arm over his chest, “Didn’t know you could be so gentle Barty,” teasing back.  
His grinned dropped as he lent over and rubbed his thumb across her chin, “So I didn’t hurt you then? You’re ok?” She smiled and nodded, bringing back his grin.  
They lay there for a moment, regaining their breathe, then Hermione turned back to him, “Barty?”  
“Hm?"  
“How come you were watching me on Monday morning?” His brow knitted together for a second before the memory dawned on his face.  
“You didn't look well,” she stared up at his chaotic eyes, waiting for him to continue, he sighed, “I was just concerned that’s all."  
“Really? You were concerned about me?” He nodded, “Why?"  
“Because I liked you.” Hermione’s mouth formed a silent ‘o’ as she realised.  
“Think I’m glad I was accidentally paired with you.” Hermione said up at him. He grinned and pressed his mouth into hers before pulling her up so she could put her shirt on. 

When she was looking presentable again Hermione turned to see Barty leaning against the tower wall. His grey-plaid shirt was buttoned up again, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Black jeans a little scuffed but nothing revealing their escapade.  
“Hrm.” She murmured, appraising him with her eyes.  
“What?” Barty asked amused, sensing her humour.  
“Think I preferred the shirt off, but it’ll do.” He grinned and pulled her into another kiss, soft this time. 

///

Slughorn had the pairs sit at their own table’s instead of with their usual groups, so that he might mark the right students on the right potions. Barty sat across from Hermione and kept winking at her playfully, knowing fully that it would make her blush. Hermione was sure Ron had seen it at least once as his eyes basically bugged out of his head before Harry distracted him. 

Slughorn made his way over to their table, testing the density, colour, aroma, and (duh) if it actually worked. He smiled enthusiastically at them and said happily, “Excellent work both of you, you receive an O!” He moved on to another table and Barty raised his hand for Hermione to high five it. He, knowingly, raised it slightly too high for her and she could only tap at his palm, causing him to erupt into laughter.  
“You can pick me as your partner anytime Granger."  
She grinned at him, “Count on it love."


End file.
